- November 24th, 2007, 8:04 pm
#22967
Went out today to check out Charlotte's new light rail. Not a coaster, but hey, it has rails and trains, so it's as close as I'm going to get around here for awhile.
It was like waiting for BORG with one train operation on a busy concert day. I was shocked at how many people were riding this thing. Yeah, it's new, and it was free, but still I didn't expect this.
I had a feeling the uptown station would be swamped, and thought the I-485 one might be hard to get in and out of with the shopping center traffic, so thought I'd find a spot somewhere in the middle of the line. Went to the Woodlawn station (actually on Old Pineville Rd.) and thought it wasn't too bad - there were a decent number of parking spots available.
There were probably 50-75 people at the platform, most wanting to head uptown. I thought it might be easier to get on going South, but watched 3 trains come by really full, so bailed and headed south.
The 485 lot apparently was full, so I headed up to the next one - Sharon Road West. Parking lot mostly full, but "only" about 50 people waiting to board. I had hoped being one stop from the end of the line there'd be SOME room on this one. There was - standing room only.
Rode the thing to the end of the line at 7th street. The trains got completely full by then, with few people getting off at the intermediate stops. The trains have a cab at both ends, so they don't have to turn them around. I thought they'd have some sort of staging area or something, but the line just ends and they have you unload - then load the people waiting to board. I assume they switch you over to the righthand track past the station.
The line to board the thing going southbound was wrapped around the building / parking deck there as far as I could see. Luckily, CATS planned ahead (amazingly) and had buses set up to take people back to the stations if they didn't want to wait to get back on the train. Since I figure I can ride this thing some other time for a few bucks, I took advantage of this and headed back South. Took a bit longer than the train did - but getting on the train for a return trip looked to be a multi-hour wait.
Didn't get any pictures aside from some Norfolk Southern locomotives on the track near the Woodlawn station - didn't feel like lugging the camera around and figured with the crowds it'd be too hard to get any pictures.
I'm assuming this was just a combination of opening day jitters and attendance an order of magnitude higher than what Lynx will carry on a regular day. Hopefully with less people riding it'll be much smoother. I'll hold judgement until then, but I liked what I saw all things considered. Could be very useful for Bobcats and Panthers games - there's a station very close to the Jillians off S. Tryon where my friends and I often meet before a Bobcats game.
It was like waiting for BORG with one train operation on a busy concert day. I was shocked at how many people were riding this thing. Yeah, it's new, and it was free, but still I didn't expect this.
I had a feeling the uptown station would be swamped, and thought the I-485 one might be hard to get in and out of with the shopping center traffic, so thought I'd find a spot somewhere in the middle of the line. Went to the Woodlawn station (actually on Old Pineville Rd.) and thought it wasn't too bad - there were a decent number of parking spots available.
There were probably 50-75 people at the platform, most wanting to head uptown. I thought it might be easier to get on going South, but watched 3 trains come by really full, so bailed and headed south.
The 485 lot apparently was full, so I headed up to the next one - Sharon Road West. Parking lot mostly full, but "only" about 50 people waiting to board. I had hoped being one stop from the end of the line there'd be SOME room on this one. There was - standing room only.
Rode the thing to the end of the line at 7th street. The trains got completely full by then, with few people getting off at the intermediate stops. The trains have a cab at both ends, so they don't have to turn them around. I thought they'd have some sort of staging area or something, but the line just ends and they have you unload - then load the people waiting to board. I assume they switch you over to the righthand track past the station.
The line to board the thing going southbound was wrapped around the building / parking deck there as far as I could see. Luckily, CATS planned ahead (amazingly) and had buses set up to take people back to the stations if they didn't want to wait to get back on the train. Since I figure I can ride this thing some other time for a few bucks, I took advantage of this and headed back South. Took a bit longer than the train did - but getting on the train for a return trip looked to be a multi-hour wait.
Didn't get any pictures aside from some Norfolk Southern locomotives on the track near the Woodlawn station - didn't feel like lugging the camera around and figured with the crowds it'd be too hard to get any pictures.
I'm assuming this was just a combination of opening day jitters and attendance an order of magnitude higher than what Lynx will carry on a regular day. Hopefully with less people riding it'll be much smoother. I'll hold judgement until then, but I liked what I saw all things considered. Could be very useful for Bobcats and Panthers games - there's a station very close to the Jillians off S. Tryon where my friends and I often meet before a Bobcats game.
